The Best Video Cards for Your Money: November 2006

pschmid

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Video card specifications and reviews are great, but what do you do if you don't have the time to spend hours doing the research? Here is a simple list of the best gaming cards on offer for the money.
 

rodney_ws

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Dec 29, 2005
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Is it just me or is that TigerDirect card WAY overpriced?!? Do yourself a favor and keep shopping around if that's the card you're considering... too many people on here have had bad experiences with TigerDirect (I'm one of them!)
 

jamesgoddard

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Nov 12, 2005
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The directory linked is completly missing....

Index of /2006/10/31
Name Last modified Size Description
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Parent Directory 30-Oct-2006 20:01 -
kingston_so_dimms/ 30-Oct-2006 20:01 -
sony_ps3_japan_alloc..> 30-Oct-2006 20:01 -
the_caldigit_s2vr_du..> 31-Oct-2006 09:16 -
valence_ncharge_batt..> 31-Oct-2006 09:16 -
 

Bookin

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Oct 31, 2006
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Where is an ATI x1950pro available for $165 ? Every place I looked has them listed for $270 and up........

:(
 

cleeve

Illustrious
I disagree with the comments that the 7600GT is at par with the 7800GS.

The 7800GS kicks ass!

You are of course welcome to disagree all you want.

The benchmarks say otherwise, however, putting them neck and neck as far as performance goes at stock speeds. :)
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Where is an ATI x1950pro available for $165 ? Every place I looked has them listed for $270 and up........

:(

When the article was written newegg had an Asus X1950 PRO for $165.

Currently, their cheapest is $199 but it's out of stock. The initial stock sold pretty fast, I reckon they'll start filling up the channel in the next few weeks - hopefully.

If you need a card quick, grab the 7900 GS. If I'd have known the X1950 PROs would have come out of stock so quickly, I would have included them. Almost as good as the X1950 PRO, and you can find them easily for $185...
 
PCI under $100
The FX5500 256MB makes for a good upgrade to revive old systems. Counter-Strike: Source averages upward of 38FPS in the lowest settings.

PCI under $130
The X1300 256MB really brings even the old systems back to life. I tested it on an Athlon 500 with 384MB's of RAM with World of Warcraft. Performance equaled a new Emachine T6528, AMD64 3500+ with 512MB and an integrated 6100 GPU.

AGP2X (Motherboards only compatable with 2X AGP GPU's.) Under $100
The 9600XT 256MB is far and away the best choice. Most older systems may require an upgraded PSU to supply enough power to accommodate the 9600XT.
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&N=200105+4294967040&Ne=300752&Ns=display%5Fprice%7C0&product_code=310589&Pn=Xtasy_9600XT_Video_Card

AGP2X (Motherboards only compatable with 2X AGP GPU's.) Under $200
Needs more research as most older Motherboards with only 2x AGP can only support 384MB's.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Interesting picks, but honestly, if your rig is that old and you want to play games, I think upgrading to something better than PCI is absolutely necessary. The bus limits performance so much.

By the way, the 9700 PRO will work on AGP 2x boards, and will beat a 9600 XT.
 

jamesgoddard

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Nov 12, 2005
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Where is an ATI x1950pro available for $165 ? Every place I looked has them listed for $270 and up........

:(

When the article was written newegg had an Asus X1950 PRO for $165.

Currently, their cheapest is $199 but it's out of stock. The initial stock sold pretty fast, I reckon they'll start filling up the channel in the next few weeks - hopefully.

If you need a card quick, grab the 7900 GS. If I'd have known the X1950 PROs would have come out of stock so quickly, I would have included them. Almost as good as the X1950 PORO, and you can find them easily for $185...

Cleeve, the Asus card on newegg comes into stock every now and then, but disappears damn quick (funny that!) if you want it you need to add an email alert, then act quickly!
 

celewign

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Sep 23, 2006
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I disagree with the comments that the 7600GT is at par with the 7800GS.

The 7800GS kicks ass!

Ummm... look at your specs. I think you might be a bit biased. I'll defend the X850XT PE to the death too. It doesn't mean the X850XTPE can outperform a 7600GT. Those are good cards.
-cm
 

jamesgoddard

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I know why I can not read it - everytime I browse to the link I get redirected to tomshardware.co.uk, that has not been updated yet...

Cleeve can you update the sticky as there is no way I can find to read the article, it shunts me to .co.uk every time...
 

celewign

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AGP2X (Motherboards only compatable with 2X AGP GPU's.) Under $100
The 9600XT 256MB is far and away the best choice. Most older systems may require an upgraded PSU to supply enough power to accommodate the 9600XT.

Dude I got a PCI express mobo that is a fata1ity board and i got it for 120 bucks. 200 bucks for AGP 2X???? WTF?
-cm
 

Dahak

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Mar 26, 2006
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Nice link.Too bad the 7800gs by gainward is only sold in europe.Kind of sucks as I would enoy a card like that for my other system.Oh well,such is life.Goodluck.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.4 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X7800GT IN SLI
2X1GIG DDR IN DC MODE
WD300GIG HD
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR 1280X1024
ACE 520WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120
 
Interesting picks, but honestly, if your rig is that old and you want to play games, I think upgrading to something better than PCI is absolutely necessary. The bus limits performance so much.

By the way, the 9700 PRO will work on AGP 2x boards, and will beat a 9600 XT.
Your correct but the 9700 PRO is a bit hard to find and at a price of $89 for only a 128MB. Price is important and at $49.98 the 9600XT is the better choice due too the rig is old.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Nice link.Too bad the 7800gs by gainward is only sold in europe.Kind of sucks as I would enoy a card like that for my other system.Oh well,such is life.Goodluck.

Hold on a week or two, the X1950 pro for AGP is coming to north america, and it'll perform close to gainward's 7800 GS for less $$$.
 
AGP2X (Motherboards only compatable with 2X AGP GPU's.) Under $100
The 9600XT 256MB is far and away the best choice. Most older systems may require an upgraded PSU to supply enough power to accommodate the 9600XT.

Dude I got a PCI express mobo that is a fata1ity board and i got it for 120 bucks. 200 bucks for AGP 2X???? WTF?
-cm
Kind of why I didnt waste time on reserching the AGP under $200 segment. PCI on the other hand could be worth a costly card as systems today sale with only PCI.